Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wont Have Hub World

Recently in Game Informer the great designer Shigeru Miyamoto stated that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will NOT have a centralized hub world and will opt for the “Overworld Map” approach. Feel free to read the direct quote below.

“We want players to focus on the joy of the action instead of getting to each game course. We wanted to make it as accessible as possible and as easy as possible for the players. Also, because we’re going to incorporate a number of different stars and conquering all the stars is going to be one of the most challenging missions for the player, we want them to understand as easy as possible where they should go next and which places they should go back to in order to get access to the remaining stars.”

I was not a HUGE fan of the Super Mario Galaxy Hub world, but I sure as hell liked it better than any overworld map. Who did not love running around the castle in Mario 64? Banjo Kazooie had an awesome hub world as well. In a hub world you can hide secrets and hidden levels…not as much with a map screen. Hub worlds even helps you set the tone for the world to come. This lets the player start to set their own mood before entering. BLARG!!

I've been in the gaming industry for only about five years, but I have had a passion for gaming for as long as I can remember. I've spent my time in the industry developing games and I now find myself enthralled with the journalism side. So now that I am delving into blogging about games, I can finally voice my insider knowledge and opinions with the masses. I hope you enjoy my writing and I look forward to your comments! :-)

I’m going to be honest: the lack of a hub world is a huge letdown. Like you stated, the hub world sets the tone for the stages to come and allows for secrets to be implemented into it, and the fact that that’s been removed from this type of game is a real shame. Still, I’ll try to look on the bright side and hope for the best.

Indeed. I know he said it is for “ease of use” but I’m wondering if the HUB world has been pulled for time constraints. They have a “set in stone” deadline now. I’m almost willing to say this is a sacrifice to make sure they hit that date.